A Message of Love in a Bottle

Sometimes, people send messages in bottles not to find love, or friendship, or to express regret, or to say goodbye. Some send messages in bottles simply as an expression of love. I was touched by a story submitted to me by Massiel Tunnell, who stumbled upon a message in a bottle just last weekend on the beach in front of her property while walking with her family.

Message in a Shell Washes Ashore

Today: a tiny post about a tiny–but very intriguing–message. A message in a shell.

At the end of July this year, Amy Mayes was walking Cocoa Beach with her husband and kids when they stumbled upon a shell that appeared to have writing on its inner surface, according to WKMG News 6 in Orlando.

Surprising Photo in a Bottle Found in Belgium

Manon van der Molen is the kind of person who picks up trash off the beach. Plenty of people get upset about plastic trash at sea, mucking up our beaches. But Manon? She actually does something about it. That’s how she stumbled upon a photo in a bottle.

“My kids are amazed by all the plastic in the ocean and do not understand why people do that. See–even kids understand!” Indeed. I think kids often understand these things better than adults. It’s obvious, even to children, that too many of us are not taking care of the ocean. But we could.

So, when Manon was walking the beach with her family–her husband and three kids–on May 5th, 2017, at De Haan, Belgium, she was picking up plastic trash. That’s a great way to help! And sometimes, among the trash, we stumble upon a little “treasure”–a reward for cleaning the beach, in the form of an unexpected human connection. A reminder, perhaps, that while most of what’s floating around in the ocean is simply trash that shouldn’t be there, still…maybe, just maybe, one in a billion or so pieces of flotsam can create an amazing and beautiful connection between strangers.

Ashes in a Bottle Become Popular “Final Journey” For Deceased Loved Ones

Life is such an amazing adventure that most folks don’t want it to end. And when it inevitably does, some send their loved ones on a final journey–but putting cremated ashes in a bottle and sending it to sea. In recent years, a number of beachcombers have stumbled upon human ashes in bottles. In every case, the person whose ashes are in the bottle was deeply loved by their family, and the family chose this gesture as a way of honoring the person’s love of travel or desire to see the world.

Personally, my favorite version of this memorial is the kind that implores the finder to share a drink with the “person” whose ashes are in the bottle.

If you find human remains in a bottle tomorrow, I guarantee a stiff drink is going to make you feel less nervous. Continue reading →

Couple Discovers Bottled Wedding Vows in Cancun

A while back, a reader wrote to me of a lovely message in a bottle he and his wife found while they were on vacation at Excellence Riviera Cancun north of Puerto Morelos, Mexico, in November of 2014. The message in a bottle contained heartfelt wedding vows to “Danielle”. Now, I hope to help find the person who sent that message in a bottle. But I need your help!